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Winning
Racquetball : Skills, Drills and Strategies
Millions of Americans play racquetball,
yet instructional material is scarce. This guide, written by a veteran
instructor (Turner) and a ranked professional (Clouse) provides tips for
both the seasoned recreational player and the novice. They examine everything
from equipment to match strategy in straightforward, conversational language
augmented by more than 140 photos and line drawings. Readers will learn
how to select a racquet and a facility; how to condition themselves specifically
for the sport; and how to avoid the most common types of injuries. There
are also excellent tips for doubles play, mental conditioning, and gamesmanship.
In addition, the authors break the game down into offensive and defensive
skills, an approach often overlooked in racquet-sport instructionals. A
key feature is the inclusion of drills to develop the recommended shots
and strategies. Too often players just play, forgetting that even a minimal
amount of time devoted to skill development can pay huge dividends. In
areas where the sport is popular, this is the instructional of choice.
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Subject: Re: back hand power
>
>I have a question that may have already come up a few times in this group, but
>since i'm fairly new, i'm going to see if someone can help me. I need to
>develop a good back hand, but i'm not sure if i should practice it while i
>play, or just practice it alone. I tried it the other night in the court by
>myself, and just cant seem to get it right. I sometimes wish my back hand
>power was at least 50% of what the guys i play with have.. I have good power with
>my serves and kill shots, but for some reason i cant get any back hand power. I
>cant even get low shots without skipping the ball.... Its just one part of my
>game that i wish i had more of.. I tend to "snap" my wrists whenever i serve
>to get good power shots. It works great for me, but i cant figure out how to get
>that snap to work on my back hands. If anyone knows of any drills that is
>worth trying, i would appreciate the input. I know it has something to do with the
>mechanics of my swing.. At least i think...
>
>
>*************************************************************
Hi:
Power on the backhand is a great subject. You should try to practice the
backhand alone on a court just to get that feel you're talking about. The
ability to integrate a good backhand to your game takes some time because of
the many variables you face in match play.
First remember that the racquetball stroke "backhand or forehand" is NOT a
forward motion into the front wall, but a rotational motion much like the golf
swing. Many interpret the step into the front wall with that of a forward
motion. The step with the front foot does serve a purpose though. It lowers
your center of gravity where better balance will occur....it puts you into an
athletic postion where your torso can now rotate into the hitting zone...and it
actually should stop your body from going forward and allow you to have good
posture when contact is made.....
If you try to stride too much into the shot, your head, front hip, and shoulder
travels too far forward, thus eliminating the rotation of the hips....and as
many have said ...your power comes from the rotation of the hips...
Your goal should be to actually stop your head right behind your contact
point...one of the keys should be to snap your rear hip forward..with your back
knee bent..making contact just in front of, and close to, your front knee...
Also remember that the plane of the stroke follows the plane of your shoulders,
Therefore..(imagine this) if you agressively step forward into the shot and
most of your body weight is on your front foot..the tendency is to stand a bit
too straight on the front leg, which slightly dips the front shoulder...this
produces more skips than any other element in the game....if you can control
your body so that your head and your front shoulder STAY BACK and allow the
back side of your body to rotate through to the hitting zone,,you will produce
much more power and level the swing... another thing about striding forward too
much..because of the body weight being so far forward...another tendency is to
swing down into the ball causing a slice or chopping into the ball ...this also
take away power....
I didn't really address the actual mechanics of the swing..because it's tough
to break down every part of the swing without showing you...but if you can
learn to control the body first "rotational swing of the torso", your stroke
will line itself up better...
DanO
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